5 Questions: Will Jared Goff Cost Lions Another Win?

Alain Poupart of All Dolphins answers five questions regarding the Detroit Lions' Week 8 contest with the Miami Dolphins.

Alain Poupart covers the Miami Dolphins for All Dolphins. He answered five questions heading into the Dolphins-Lions matchup at Ford Field on Sunday.

1.) What is your assessment of the 2022 Miami Dolphins?

Alain Poupart: That's a very good and difficult question to answer because the Dolphins are coming off 10-6 and 9-8 seasons and they made significant additions in the offseason by bringing in Tyreek Hill and Terron Armstead, along with a new head coach (Mike McDaniel) who arrived with a reputation as a great offensive mind. And yet, seven games in, this looks like pretty much the same team as the past two seasons, a team that wins most of its games with a defense that's not dominating but comes up with clutch plays. The one exception, of course, was the remarkable comeback at Baltimore in Week 2 when Tua Tagovailoa threw for six touchdowns, including four in the fourth quarter, but that's been an outlier so far. Now, the Dolphins look just as good right now as most of the AFC and a playoff berth absolutely is possible, but they still have to close the gap on Buffalo and Kansas City.

2.) How has Tua Tagovailoa benefited from having WR Tyreek Hill on the roster?

Poupart: Let's put it this way, whenever I see MVP odds, I'm always baffled that Hill isn't on the list of candidates mentioned because he's been just huge for the Dolphins and for Tua. The guy has been borderline uncoverable all season and he's already got three 160-yard outings. And the comeback at Baltimore was highlighted by Hill's two long touchdowns of 48 and 60 yards.

3.) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the team?

Poupart: The biggest strength very clearly is the speed on offense, starting with Hill and Jaylen Waddle but also including running back Raheem Mostert. It's easy to forget about Waddle if you watch highlights, but he's averaging 18 yards a catch and had probably the key play offensively in both the Week 1 win against New England and the Week 3 win against Buffalo. If Hill is the fastest player in the NFL (he probably is), then Waddle isn't far behind. Defensively, nobody jumps out as a huge strength, though the Dolphins have been good situationally -- particularly in the Buffalo game.

4.) Which matchup are you most looking forward to watching Sunday between the Lions and Dolphins?

Poupart: As I wrote on All Dolphins on Thursday, the Dolphins defense absolutely messed with Jared Goff's head when the Rams came to Hard Rock Stadium in 2020 in what was Tua's first NFL start and forced four turnovers (two picks, two fumbles) in a 28-17 win where the Rams outgained Miami by some 300 yards. I'm curious to see what defensive coordinator Josh Boyer will look to throw at Goff, though he doesn't have the luxury this time of having two stud corners to handle man coverage because Byron Jones has been on the Reserve/PUP list all season. I'm also curious to see Aidan Hutchinson matched up against Terron Armstead, who is just a very, very good offensive tackle and completely shut down Pittsburgh linebacker Alex Highsmith last Sunday after Highsmith came into the game as the NFL sack leader.

5.) How do you see the Week 8 contest at Ford Field playing out?

Poupart: For all the national hype about Tua and the "explosive" Dolphins offense, the reality is they've averaged 19 points outside of that one crazy game at Baltimore, and that simply won't cut it if the Dolphins are going to get where they want to go. The offense putting up only 16 points in Tua's return to lineup against Pittsburgh on Sunday night was disappointing but maybe can be explained a bit by the rust factor. Either way, the pressure is on for the Dolphins to break out offensively against a Detroit team that's been porous defensively. But the Lions played better against Dallas, so I don't think it's going to be another Baltimore situation for the Dolphins. I also would expect the Lions to move the ball on the Miami defense, but it's impossible not to expect a turnover or two from Jared Goff, and I think ultimately that's what's going to make the difference in this game.